Financial Report Preview | The failure of the $20 billion acquisition does not affect the monetization of AI technology, Adobe (ADBE.US) Q1 performance is worth looking forward to.

Adobe (ADBE.US) will announce its first quarter financial results for fiscal year 2024 after the US stock market closes on March 14th (early morning on March 15th Beijing time). Wall Street currently anticipates that Adobe's first quarter revenue will increase by 10% year over year to $5.14 billion, and earnings per share will increase by 15% year over year to $4.38. After successfully monetizing its artificial intelligence technology following cross-platform integration, the company achieved record revenue in the last quarter, with all operating departments performing better than expected. Adobe's stock price has more than doubled in the past year and a half after rebounding from multi-year lows. The stock saw steady growth in the initial weeks of this year, but recently experienced some weakness. Investor sentiment was affected after the company recently terminated its $20 billion acquisition deal of the cloud-based design platform Figma Inc. Although the deal could have greatly bolstered Adobe's product portfolio, the company remains in a favorable position to continue dominating the creative software field. Last year, Adobe outperformed the entire industry in every aspect, thanks to strong user growth and effective implementation of artificial intelligence technology across all products. While management remains cautious about the full-year outlook, the upward trend this year is likely to continue. The company's leadership is confident in maintaining an operating profit margin of over 45% in the near term. Recent measures to streamline R&D and marketing expenses, coupled with increased investment in artificial intelligence technology innovation, have benefited the profit margin. Positive Outlook from Management Adobe executives expect earnings per share for the first quarter to be between $4.35 and $4.40, with revenue ranging from $51.0 billion to $51.5 billion. During the earnings call for the previous quarter, Adobe management stated, "We believe that every major technology shift offers generational opportunities to provide new products and solutions for an ever-expanding customer base. Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI are one such opportunity, and we've laid out how we intend to invest and differentiate in data, models, and interfaces. We've delivered on this strategy and are excited about some of our breakthrough innovations, including our Firefly model and integrations across Creative Cloud, Liquid mode, as well as integrations across Document Cloud and AI services in our real-time customer data platform and integrations within Experience. Now, customers' use of the cloud is enormous." Record Revenue in the Last Quarter Interestingly, for over a decade, Adobe's earnings have consistently exceeded or met expectations each quarter, with the expectation that this trend will continue. In the previous quarter, its revenue grew by 12% to a historic high of $50.5 billion, surpassing expectations. The digital media and digital experience segments collectively accounted for approximately 98% of total revenue, showing double-digit growth. Adjusted earnings per share climbed 19% annually to $4.27.